


You're Cute

by hidekaneheadcanons



Category: Tokyo Ghoul
Genre: M/M, lots of fluff, some violence and gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-25
Updated: 2017-05-25
Packaged: 2018-11-04 18:25:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10996452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hidekaneheadcanons/pseuds/hidekaneheadcanons
Summary: After coming to the rescue of a victim of a ghoul attack, Kaneki can't seem to shake away the blonde student he saved. Nor does he think he wants to.





	You're Cute

Kaneki stared down at the ghoul, his mask dripping with blood. He ran his tongue along the open zipper, catching some of the droplets before they could fall. He watched absently as one limb of his kagune impaled the ghoul’s stomach. He writhed on the ground, opening his mouth, making out one begging syllable before Kaneki freed his head from his shoulders. It wasn’t much of a fight. A ghoul of that level was no match for him.

The horrible smell of a ghoul’s blood filed his nostrils and his stomach turned. He hated doing it, but it was better than the alternative. It had been a while since he had last eaten. And now was the perfect opportunity. He had hardly any regrets killing a murderer. He picked up the corpse by the shoulders, about to bite in again when he heard a noise behind him.

It seemed the human was still there.

Kaneki had come across the ghoul attacking its prey: a blonde student about Kaneki’s age. It reminded Kaneki too much of his own incident when he was attacked by Rize. Kaneki, unable to just watch the scene, seeing the ghoul painfully toy with the human, had jumped in immediately. Kaneki expected the human to run as soon as he intersected the ghoul. Any normal person would have. So, why was he still there?

Kaneki turned, curiosity striking him. His eyes met unfocused, dilated ones. Kaneki expected to see fear, to see horror. He wasn’t expecting to see curiosity and something close to admiration. Even more confused, Kaneki approached the man, who held his gaze unwaveringly.

“Why are you still here?” Kaneki’s eyes trailed over the man’s bloodied body. Was he too injured to run away?

The man blinked slowly, like he was trying to process what he said. Kaneki cleared his throat, then repeated the question, loudly and more clear. Finally, the man understood him.

“He broke my leg.” Kaneki had to strain to hear his voice.

Taking another look at the man’s injuries, he could see that they looked a little too deliberate, not like the kind of wounds Kaneki would see if a ghoul was hunting just for food. Glancing back at the ghoul’s decapitated body, his lip curled in disgust.

 It seemed he wasn’t eating that night. He sighed deeply at that, turning back to the blonde. He didn’t move as Kaneki searched his pockets, pulling out a mangled phone. Both of them stared at it for a few moments and Kaneki fought the urge to groan. It wasn’t like he could leave the man there. He couldn’t call an ambulance using his phone, since it could be traced, and the blonde’s phone was broken…

He effortlessly scooped the man up in his arms, apologizing quickly at the pain the movement caused him. The blonde hung limply in Kaneki’s arms, only one hand weakly grabbing Kaneki’s shirt. Kaneki ran, taking back alleys, all the way to the nearest hospital. Thankfully, the man was still conscious when they arrived and Kaneki left him at the side of the building, telling him to yell for help. With that, Kaneki disappeared.

~<3<3<3~

A few days later Kaneki was in the twentieth ward. He was heading to Anteiku, picking up his special sugar cubes for his coffee. He hadn’t been able to get a meal until a couple days after he rescued the blonde, making his go through his short supply of the small, coppery cubes in no time.

Kaneki trudged down the sideway, hoping to get his visit over with. He missed everyone there, but it was too much of a reminder of how much more peaceful his life used to be – at least in comparison to what Kaneki’s life was now. He was just a couple intersections away from the coffee shop when he heard shouting behind him.

“ _Hey! Wait!”_ Kaneki turned around to see what the commotion was about. He blinked when he saw a man with crutches aggressively maneuvering through the crowd. Freezing, he recognized the familiar blonde hair, even if the guy was covered in bandages.

What could he do? If he ran he would look suspicious, but if he didn’t…

A hand closed around his wrist firmly before he could make his decision. He stared down in confusion at the grinning and laughing blonde.

“I wasn’t expecting you to _actually_ stop.” He said, catching his breathe. “I wanted to thank you…”

“Sorry,” Kaneki said coldly. Maybe he could still get out of it? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He pivoted to walk away, but the blonde man held his wrist firmly.

He looked disappointed and upset. “You saved my life. At least let me buy you some coffee.”

“I don’t think –“

“Nope. You’re letting me buy you coffee. Come on.”

Kaneki bit his lip, nodding. The man grinned, releasing Kaneki and gesturing for him to follow. Kaneki fidgeted as he did. They made their way to a coffee shop across the street. Kaneki was glad the man didn’t want to go to Anteiku.

They took a seat in the small café. It was beautiful, abstract paintings hanging on the walls, bright colours dulled by the dim lights. The man requested a more isolated table, making Kaneki’s stomach drop. Just what did the blonde want to talk about?

“I’m Hideyoshi Nagachika, by the way. But, you can just call me Hide.”

Kaneki nodded. Hide. It was a nice name. Judging by the look Hide was sending him, he was expecting for Kaneki to give his name as well. Instead, he just remained silent, gaze fixated on the wall above Hide’s head.

“R-right.” Hide muttered. “Oh good, coffee’s here.” He smiled at the waitress as she put the hot cup on the table and he immediately picked his up, adding a generous amount of milk and sugar. He watched as Kaneki took his, immediately taking a large gulp. Kaneki’s eyes closed and his face softened as the delicious taste ran over his tongue, burning it slightly. It helped calm his nerves just a bit.

Hide tilted his head, leaning it into his palm and looking at Kaneki with an indecipherable expression. Kaneki raised his eyebrows, but Hide just clucked his tongue and took a swig of his coffee. Then, he regarded Kaneki again, his eyes narrowed.

“You know, you’re kind of cute.”

Kaneki choked on his coffee, eyes watering as the hot liquid burned his nose. He took the napkin Hide offered him quickly. Hide was _laughing_ at him.

“Sorry. I sometimes speak my mind.” He smiled as Kaneki shook his head in disbelief. “It’s true, though… I mean –“

It felt like Kaneki was in the twilight zone. “Did you… hit your head when you were attacked?”

“Only a little.” Hide held out his hands. “Doctor said I don’t even have a concussion.”

“So you’re just…” Kaneki waved a hand, unsure of how to word his question. It was kind of difficult to ask someone if they were weird without them getting offended. And the last thing he needed to do was offend a human, a human who knew what he was, a human who could most certainly expose him to the world as a ghoul.

Hide pouted, probably knowing exactly what Kaneki was about to say. “I like to think I’m the only normal person around.”

Kaneki sputtered. “Somehow I think you don’t understand the definition of ‘normal’.”  

“Well, maybe.” Hide grinned, showing all his teeth, eyes twinkling.

Kaneki stared as him disbelievingly. “So you know what I am, the types of things I do, and one of the first things you tell me, is that I’m cute?”

“Yep! Well, to be honest, your kagune kind of creeped me out at first.” Hide gestured to Kaneki’s back. “They look like worms. I was scared of worms when I was a kid.”

Yet he wasn’t scared to sit across the table from a ghoul as an adult…

 “How about tomorrow? Does tomorrow work for you? At five? Meet here?”

“What do you mean tomorrow?” Kaneki’s head was starting to spin from talking to him. He was kind of hard to follow, confusing Kaneki in more ways than one.

“Our date!” Hide placed his hands back around his coffee, his grin almost blinding. “I mean, as long as you let me take you on a date? Would you like that? I know I would.”

“Y-yeah. S-sure. I guess…” Everything was happening so fast, Kaneki found it impossible to keep up with the strange blonde as he babbled on, asking what kind of movies Kaneki liked and what type of coffee was his favorite blend.

Despite the odd arrangement, Kaneki found himself smiling. It was a long time since he had a human friend. Not only that, but Hide seemed to accept who he truly was and was _intrigued_ and not afraid of him.

He would do anything he could to make this work.

He leaned his cheek into his palm as he listened to Hide rattle on about some great action movie he had watched. His expressions were animated and he waved his arms about, almost spilling his coffee multiple times. Kaneki sighed. It was crazy. The whole situation was crazy. But, what in his life was not?

“It’s Kaneki.” He murmured suddenly.

“Hmm?” Hide looked up, his mouth stuffed with a bite from his sandwich. Kaneki didn’t recall when he ordered it.

“My name.” Kaneki muttered. “It’s Kaneki Ken.” Giving Hide this information could potentially destroy him.

“Kaneki, huh?” Hide hummed and then grinned profusely. “It’s nice. Suits you well.”

Kaneki flushed and looked at the time. He didn’t realize how much of it he had spent with Hide. Anteiku would be closing within the hour and he really wanted to get his cubes… he was going to tell Hide he had to leave, but stopped. It was dark out again and the streets were emptying. Not to mention, Hide was easy meat.

“It’s getting pretty late. I should walk you home,” Kaneki said. He could suffer one more night with the hunger, but he would go right in the morning to get some cubes and also some meat.

They left the café and Hide insisted on paying. Kaneki relented, wanted to avoid an argument, making Hide promise him that he would pick up the bill the next time. Hide grinned widely at that, but didn’t say anything.

It wasn’t a long walk.

~<3<3<3~

The next day, Kaneki stood outside Hide’s house, his appetite sated from the coffee he had and the little bit of meat he had eaten after he went to Anteiku in the morning. He made sure to thoroughly brush his teeth. He wasn’t planning on anything happening, but it just felt wrong to have the remnant taste of human in his mouth while he was going on a date with one, even though he seemed to be accepting to Kaneki’s lifestyle.

The door opened and Kaneki straightened, meeting Hide’s surprised expression with a small smile. “Hi.”

“Hey.” Hide grinned. “I thought we were meeting at the café…” His hair was still adorably ruffled from sleep, his shirt askew around his neck.

Kaneki shifted nervously, smile falling slightly as he wondered if he turned Hide off by showing up at his place. Did Hide think he was some creepy stalker or something? “Uh…” He rubbed his hands in front of himself. “I was… just – uh.”

“Worried?” Hide’s grin was wider yet as he hopped the rest of the way out of the house, having some difficulty closing the door behind him. He made a face and fixed his shirt, then ran his fingers through his hair.

Kaneki relaxed. “Yeah. Sorry.”

“It’s alright.” Hide waved a hand in his direction. “I don’t mind the company. I love it actually.” Hide hummed. “What do you want to do after we get coffee?”

“How about a movie?” To be perfectly honest, Kaneki had no idea what was playing, so it would have to be up to Hide to decide what to watch.

They ended up in a small, cramped movie theater. Kaneki swore Hide had just about all the food he could order spread over his lap, seemingly munching on things at random. They were set to watch a historical drama of some sort, which was apparently based on a novel. Surprisingly, it was one of the few books Hide actually read.

By the time the movie ended, Hide had finished all his food and was moping.

“That’s why you watch the movie _before_ you read the book. Otherwise the movie will just be a disappointment.” Kaneki smiled. “Now I’m interested in reading the book, knowing it will be better than the movie was.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Hide was still pouting. “I still can’t believe they ended it like that. It was _so_ much better in the book.”

Kaneki hummed, looking at Hide out of the corner of his eye as they left the theater. He supposed the night was over then? He kind of felt a little sad it was. He found he rather enjoyed himself, on this strange date with a strange man he met by chance. It was nice to go out and have some fun.

“Hide?” Kaneki found himself liking the sound of his name. “Thank you for taking me out today.”

Hide looked up at him, his eyebrows raised. “Yeah, it was a lot of fun.” Hide tilted his chin up a bit, giving Kaneki a crooked smile.

Kaneki leaned in slowly, Hide’s breath catching as Kaneki came close. Kaneki kissed his jaw, pulling back with a cheeky smile. Hide blinked up at him slowly, his expression almost filled with awe. Then, he grinned.

“You are _too_ cute.” He made a grabbing motion towards Kaneki. “Come here, I want to smooch you!”

Kaneki laughed quietly, moving close enough that Hide could cup his cheek, his palm surprisingly soft, and his touch exceedingly gentle. Hide brushed their lips together, then pressed forward. Kaneki could feel Hide’s lips twitch into a smile before he pulled away, his cheeks a little flushed.

“Kiss me again.” Kaneki felt unexpectedly needy, craving Hide’s arms holding him close and his breath against his lips. He wanted to feel closer to him. Thankfully, Hide obliged him, humming happily as their lips touched again.

~<3<3<3~

Dating was nice. Maybe it was because Kaneki never dated before, but he felt strangely elated in the past few months he knew Hide. He looked forward to all the time they spent together, his heart jumping wildly in his chest when he first saw Hide or whenever he smiled.

Hide was happy when he finally got his cast off. Kaneki went with him to the hospital for it, hearing Hide crow excitedly – telling how _unbelievably_ itchy the damn thing could get. Afterward, he heard Hide complain about how gross his leg was, how it was covered in dead skin and _felt_ disgusting and how the first thing he would do when he got home was scrub it clean.

When he was done cleaning it, he laid in bed, holding his leg up and admiring it. “It feels so good, dude.” He patted the bed next to him. “Come on. Lay here with me and look at it.”

Kaneki laughed, lying down beside him. He tangled their legs together, still careful with Hide’s previously broken leg. “Now we can do this.” He wrapped an arm around Hide’s waist, snuggling against his chest. Not that they couldn’t cuddle before. They did. Plenty. But it was nice to get so close and not worry about hurting him.

Hide turned on his side, grinning. He ran his fingers through Kaneki’s hair, drawing his face up enough that he could cover it with kisses. Kaneki made a face as Hide continued to smother his face for an excessively long time.

Finally, Hide pulled back a bit after planting one last kiss on Kaneki’s scrunched nose. “You’re so cute.”

“You’re cuter,” Kaneki muttered. But, he really liked when Hide told him how cute he was. It made him feel good. Hide saw the scary, dark side of him, but he still found Kaneki… _human_. He didn’t see Kaneki as a monster.

It was weird when they first started dating. Kaneki wondered when he would wake up, or when the joke would be over and he would go back to the way his life used to be. He was so lonely back then. He didn’t like feeling that way.

Kaneki reached forward, carding his fingers through Hide’s bangs. “I love you.”

Hide blinked at him, smiling gently. He learned forward, brushing his lips against Kaneki’s again. Kaneki returned the kiss, shivering a little as Hide deepened it. Kaneki didn’t want it to end, but eventually he had to pull back, gasping for air. “I love you too.”

Kaneki felt his chest tighten and he squeezed his eyes shut. “Oh.”

“Were you not expecting me to say it back?” Hide asked gently, cupping Kaneki’s cheeks. He ran his thumbs under Kaneki’s eyes, wiping the beginnings of tears away.

“I don’t know.” Kaneki shook his head a bit. “I kind of thought you would, but I didn’t know. And it feels so good that you did and I’m so happy you _did._ ”

Hide hummed.  “If it makes you happy, I’ll just have to keep saying it.” Hide kissed him, quick and sweet. “I love you.” He kissed him again. “I love you.” Again. “I love you.” Again and again. Until Kaneki was smiling.

“I love you too.” Kaneki laughed quietly, squirming away from Hide’s insistent lips, seeming intent on finding the ticklish part of his neck. His fingers then found Kaneki’s sides, making him writhe away and laugh uncontrollably.

“You –“ Kaneki caught Hide’s hands, rolling on top of him and pinning them at his sides. He didn’t know what to say, or how to convey how happy he was. Instead, he decided to show how he felt.

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this a long, long time ago. Kind of debated whether or not to post it, but hey, someone's gonna like it, right?


End file.
